Kusuma shares good practice National Meeting on Secondary Education

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RMSA Key objectives

Achieve an enrolment rate of 75% in schools Provide a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation Remove gender, socio-economic and disability barriers to education

Source: Govt of India website

The Kusuma Trust (the Trust) was invited to take part in a national workshop in March by the Government of India in Delhi on the rollout of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)1. The Trust has funded the development of a manual for the capacity building of School Management Development Committees (SMDC)2 members in schools in the States of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. At the workshop, the Trust presented the manual to the Ministry of Human Resources Development and shared ideas on ways to improve SMDCs in schools in the districts of Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh and Sambalpur, Odisha.

In Sambalpur, the Trust works with the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) to improve the quality of secondary education by forming and strengthening SMDCs in 25 secondary schools. A manual for school management that has been developed as part of the project will now be adopted at the State level.

In Hardoi, the Trust works with the Vigyan Foundation (VF) in 40 secondary schools to train and build the capacity of 720 SMDC members. VF is part of the District Planning Team supporting plans for the RMSA rollout. The plans developed will form part of the Uttar Pradesh State annual work plan and budget. In 2013-2014 the State Education Department of Uttar Pradesh is expected to develop the SMDC manual used by schools in Hardoi so that it can be implemented across the State.

Mr Pankaj Vinayak Sharma, Country Leader of the Kusuma Foundation, an affiliate of the Trust based in Delhi, welcomed the adoption of Kusuma’s work in each district, State and national levels “Kusuma has supported the capacity building of SMDCs in partnership with local NGOs and the Education department at the district level. We are now in a position to support the expansion of this important component of the RMSA nationally to ensure better school management and improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools”. 1 Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) is India’s national scheme for improving the quality of secondary education  2 School Management and Development Committees consist of teachers and the local community to improve the quality of education and learning environment in schools

 SMDC Members attending a CYSD training event in Sambalpur, Odisha. Photo: CYSD

APRIL 2013

Our mission is to facilitate and increase access to education and other life opportunities for children and young people

Education Research in the UK Centre for Social Justice The independent think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, is reviewing the causes of educational failure as part of its Breakthrough Britain II3 initiative. The educational failure review, funded by the Trust, is progressing well since it began in November 2012. There have been a series of working group meetings with education experts from across the UK. Leading academics, schools and charity leaders have provided evidence to the working group that will result in a review to be published in the autumn of 2014. The review hopes to offer policy and practical recommendations to reduce educational failure and break the cycle of social inequity in the UK. The study’s predecessor, Breakthrough Britain I, published in 2007, produced a number of recommendations that led to educational reforms in government policy. These included the introduction of the pupil premium to improve educational achievement in the poorest areas of the UK, supporting free schools to give parents more control and ultimately drive up education standards.

Impact Study on the training of frontline youth workers Sadhana ‘Saarathi’4 is a training manual for youth workers developed by Sadhana with support from the Trust. The manual has been used to improve the knowledge, counseling skills and understanding of legal issues for frontline workers supporting vulnerable children in Andhra Pradesh. In March 2013 a study to assess the impact of the training was conducted. The study assessed the levels of knowledge, attitude and the skills of 1,500 frontline workers with a questionnaire, before and after the training. The children’s perception of the support they received was also captured through focus group discussions conducted in nine care homes. The study found that the training had a significant impact on the knowledge levels of the frontline workers with participants demonstrating a significant improvement in their awareness of counselling techniques and legal issues. The results of the study also showed that the attitude of the frontline workers towards children and their jobs improved after they completed the training. Sadhana will now take what has been learnt from the training forward and develop ways to share the manual with more youth workers.

Kusuma Trust UK I Mezzanine Level I 48-49 St James’s Street I London I SW1A 1JT T: +44 (0) 20 7569 1920 I www.kusumatrust.org I Charity Registration No. 1126983

Mid–Day meals begin in Bhubaneswar Akshaya Patra Foundation The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) supports the Indian Government’s Mid-Day Meal programme. With funding from the Trust, TAPF is nearing completion of a brand new kitchen in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The soft launch of the feeding programme took place on the 11 March 2013 with 500 children receiving a free mid-day meal. The soft launch enabled the testing of cooking equipment and the distribution of food to nearby schools. Freshly cooked food including rice and aloo matar with soya bean curry was distributed to children from four schools in Bhubaneswar. The feeding programme will now be expanded to provide freshly prepared cooked meals to approximately 100,000 children daily.

International Philanthropy Forum Dasra On 5-6 March 2013, Dr Balwant Singh, the Chief Executive of the Kusuma Trust, participated in an annual conference in Mumbai organised by the International Philanthropy Forum, an initiative of Dasra5. The event brought together philanthropists, corporate sector CEOs, social sector leaders, heads of foundations and think tanks to discuss philanthropy and pave the way for social sector reform in India. Highlights of the conference included lectures and debates on the empowerment of adolescent girls, sports as a tool for development, anti-sex trafficking and the role of corporate engagement in philanthropy. “While philanthropy is slowly growing in India, I am encouraged by the increasing communication, collaboration and focus on learning and impact amongst the philanthropic organisations,” Dr Singh said following the conference.

3 Breakthrough Britain II is a major piece of research to examine the root causes of poverty and social breakdown in the UK 4 Saarathi means the charioteer or guide 5 Dasra is India's leading strategic philanthropy foundation working with philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to create large scale social change

Children receiving a free mid-day meal in Odisha. Photo: TAPF